Higher or Lower

How to play

Pick a category at the top: Population, Area (in km²) or Mixed, where every round can be either. The country on the left shows its number. Decide whether the country on the right has a higher or lower one and press Higher or Lower – or use the arrow keys or H and L. Get it right and the right-hand country moves over and a new one appears. One wrong answer ends the run.

Your best streak in each category is saved on this device. The first rounds are easy; the gap between the two numbers shrinks as your streak grows.

A few numbers worth knowing

• Most people: China and India are far ahead of everyone, with about 1.4 billion each. United States is a distant third with 328.2 million.
• Largest: Russia covers 17,098,242 km² – almost twice Canada, the runner-up at 9,984,670 km². China, the United States and Brazil follow, each close to 10 million km².
• Smallest: Vatican City has about 825 people on less than half a square kilometre.
• Surprises: Bangladesh has more people than Russia, Nigeria almost as many as Brazil, and Algeria – not the DR Congo – is the largest country in Africa.

Questions

Where do the numbers come from?

They are the same figures as the population and size quizzes on Quiz the Map: rounded population estimates and total areas in square kilometres. Sources differ a little, so a country's number here can be a few percent off another website's.

Why do some pairs never come up?

Two countries closer than about 3% are never put side by side – China and India, for example. That would be a coin toss, not geography.

Does it get harder?

Yes. The first rounds pair countries that are far apart, then the values move closer together the longer your streak gets.

Is there a leaderboard?

Every run with at least one right answer goes on the global board for its category, under your Quiz the Map name or a random nickname. Your best streak per category is also kept on this device.

Want to learn them properly? Try the population quiz, the size quiz or the daily Globe.